The Tolerance Value Trap

by Richard Butrick (July 2013)

delivered at the 30th annual Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) New York City Awards Dinner, tolerance is a core value of any New Yorker worthy of the name. Forget the “Big Apple” it is the “Big Tolerance” that is the banner of NYC.

stuffed with intolerance watch dogs and “High” commissions punishing those who trespass against tolerance even if that means riding roughshod over free speech.

The very concept of tolerance implies an operational role for intolerance. If one should be tolerant of XYZ then one should be intolerant of any restriction or criticism or ridicule of XYZ. Otherwise the concept is quite vacuous. If one should be tolerant of XYZ and equally tolerant of any opposition to XYZ then what does it mean to be tolerant?

he will not tolerate those who are intolerant of Islam.

11-year old student died after an asthma attack because his school's zero-tolerance policy barred him from carrying his inhaler.

Here is an account:

#MyJihad.

And here is the core argument. We would all be better off we showed more tolerance and respect for the mores and custom of other cultures. What right do we have to elevate our belief system about cultural interaction over those of other societies? All we have done by insisting that our way is the right way is stir up trouble and animosity. Tolerance is the key.

Will we all be better off if we shut down critical analysis of the sacred cows of any belief system about social interaction and social institutions to hard critical analysis?

This thinking has led the ministers of the Church of Tolerance to back anti-blasphemy laws.

intimidate and persecute non-Islamic faiths. Assyrian and Coptic Christians have suffered greatly and face extermination.

Policing Belief: the Impact of Blasphemy Laws on Human Rights and by other human rights groups, there is no evidence that restricting speech reduces religious intolerance. In fact, the evidence shows that prohibitions on blasphemy actually encourage or justify intolerance and lead to a wide range of human rights abuses, including religious discrimination, arbitrary arrest, torture, and even murder. (Source)

This is not to say that religious tolerance is or is not good or bad in itself. It depends on the religion or what aspect of a religion is being considered. And that is the trap. Instead of opening up a critical analysis of a given religion, the uber-value tolerance is invoked and that is an analysis stopper.

Tolerance is not the issue. The issue is what is or is not to be tolerated.

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